The Eyelet.

Many agencies, depending on their level of strategic engagement, often have their own approach to creating a brand framework for their clients. Since we at Mlicki give equal emphasis to our clients’ associates as we do their customers, our framework has two dimensions – one is more outwardly focused and the other more inwardly focused. However, especially in a service brand environment, the two are not mutually exclusive. They strongly influence one another, and each of the four components spills over from a primary sphere of influence to a secondary one. The following is the Mlicki brand framework which we utilize in formulating brand strategy for our clients:

Positioning and Personality are more outwardly focused – they address the end-user audience (client or consumer) and they are typically the most widely understood and utilized components in marketing communications strategies.

- Positioning charts out a unique space and audience in the market for your brand or product (what it provides, for whom and why it’s better/different).

- Personality is the soul and human-like characteristics of the brand (the tone and voice).

These are pretty easily understood and widely used so I won’t spend any more time on them. Our other two components are not as commonly harnessed and could use some more explanation:

- Promise is the brand experience each and every field and support level associate should be striving to deliver to customers and prospects every day. It’s the reason customers are motivated to use your product or service. The brand promise isn’t as widely used, at least consciously, by nearly as many brands as the aforementioned components.

- Purpose is why the brand and its supporting company exist. It motivates and connects your employees and stake-holders emotionally to the brand and company.

A brand’s purpose isn’t nearly as intuitive as the other components. It’s not the obvious tangible objective of the organization. It’s not about delivering an above market return to shareholders. It’s not even about consistently providing your product or service -that’s the promise. It’s about a higher calling – a greater good. At Mlicki, we occasionally employ an exercise to uncover a brand’s purpose we call “A World Without ______”. What would the world be missing if your brand or company no longer existed? If Apple didn’t exist, would the world miss out on more intuitive user-friendly technological equipment and devices? Probably not – somebody would quickly fill the resulting void. But we would miss out on a forward looking company that brings technological advances to the masses unforeseen by others in order to make life easier and more enjoyable beyond imagination.

These four components create a brand architecture that not only addresses the consumer or prospective customer, but is also the first step in engaging the brand’s associate base. In an increasingly service based society, making sure you associates are fully enlisted, engaged and are faithfully delivering the brand experience should be a key component to any marketing plan. To learn more  about our brand strategy framework or how to engage your associate base, please leave a comment.